Natesan said: “You cannot even live here after airing your opinions. Malappuram is like a special country, a state dominated by a particular section of people.”
SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellappally Natesan stirred controversy on Saturday by alleging that the Muslim-majority Malappuram district functions like a separate nation, dominated by certain sections of the population, making it difficult for others to live freely or express their opinions.
Speaking at a convention organized by the Nilambur unit of the SNDP Yogam at Chungathara, Natesan said: “You cannot even live here after airing your opinions. Malappuram is like a special country, a state dominated by a particular section of people.”
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“People here live in fear. The backward communities in Malappuram have not received even a fraction of the benefits of independence. They cannot breathe freely in the district. For the Ezhava community in Malappuram, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme is the only viable option,” he said.
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“What is the condition of backward communities in Malappuram, even after several decades of independence? Have they received even an iota of its benefits?” he asked.
Citing an example, Natesan added, “The upper-caste Hindu group, the Nair Service Society, established a college in Manjeri, Malappuram. Some of you received education because of that institution.”
“But we must ask ourselves—do we even have a single school where we can study or teach freely? In Malappuram, our only representation is through the MGNREGA job scheme. We are to blame for this situation. While others mobilized themselves as vote banks, we failed to unite as one.”
The SNDP is an organization representing the numerically strong Ezhava community in Kerala.
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